More than 650kms of marked pistes…2 countries…199 ski lifts…14 different valleys...400 square miles to enjoy…The Portes du Soleil is one of the two largest linked ski areas in the world!Morzine is located at the heart of the ski area and is the best location to access this amazing winter playground!

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Morzine is a small market town located at the heart in the Haute Savoie department of France near the border with Switzerland. In contrast to many purpose-built French ski resorts, Morzine has developed organically from it’s origins as a slate mining town and therefore retains a lovely traditional feel and has many beautiful old chalets throughout the town. Morzine was one of the pioneering towns of skiing with it’s first lifts dating back to the early 1930s - but don’t worry, they’ve been upgraded since then!In addition to skiing and boarding, Morzine offers a broad range of other energetic activities such as ice skating (both at the permanent indoor rink and the temporary outdoor rink), snow mobiling, parapente and even husky-dog driving! There is also a large indoor swimming pool complex (with 3 pools including a smaller children’s pool and warm toddler splash around area) and a cinema which shows films in English throughout the winter season.Morzine centre is really attractive and has a large selection of bars and restaurants that you may wish to visit on the chalet night off and plenty of shops selling winter sports clothing and accessories and a range of other shops selling local and French specialities such as cheese, wine and saussison! The tourist office organises events throughout the season including the weekly descent flambeaux (ESF instructors skiing down the mountain carrying flaming torches!) - ask us for more details!Visit www.morzine.com

Avoriaz

Avoriaz is a purpose-built ski resort which was developed in the 1960s as a way of linking the Swiss resorts of Morgins, Champoussin, Les Crosets and Champery with those on the French side of the border such as Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel. It is architecturally intersting as the wooden building were designed to blend in with the rocks when viewed from the valley below. Today it ranks as one of the top ski resorts in France and is one of the top snowboarding destinations in the world!Avoriaz is a car-free resort as all the roads turn into ski pistes in the winter, so you can enjoy exploring the town on skis or take a horse-drawn sledge taxi ride through town! It boasts an igloo bar where you can stop off for a cheeky vin chaud and there is even the option of dining there on the chalet night off - please ask us to book this early to avoid disappointment! for those wanting a break from skiing, Avoriaz also has an indoor water-park, Aquariaz with a variety of slides, children’s play area, lazy river, hot tub and even a small climbing wall over the pool!Our chalets are only minutes from the Prodains express lift which takes you directly up to Avoriaz town, allowing you to reach the highest and snowiest slopes very quickly. Avoriaz also has a healthy number of bars and restaurants to explore and you could consider spending your chalet night off up in Avoriaz for some real winter atmosphere…just don’t miss the last lift down at around midnight!Visitwww.avoriaz.com

The Portes du Soleil offers an incredible ski area with 300 ski runs and 30 snow parks (including the popular Burton designed “The Stash” park!) and over 90 on-piste resturants! There are 13 resorts in the Portes du Soleil area, of which 7 are French and 5 are Swiss, making it one of the few ski resorts world-wide where you can ski 2 countries in 1 day. Most of the resorts have grown around traditional valley villages - only Avoriaz and the very small Les Crosets and Torgon were purposely built during the mid-1960s. The area is heavily influenced by the microclimate between Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, which generates very substantial snowfall between November and April making it possible to keep the area open to skiing typically from early to mid December until late April.

9th - 10th Dec 2017 - Morzine - Winter Start FestivalWinter kicks off in Morzine with this fun celebration of winter - Christmas markets, bands etc.15th - 17th Dec 2017 - Avoriaz - Rock on Ultimate FestivalThe opening weekend in Avoriaz is a major event for all winter sports and music lovers. Each year the latest skis and snowboards from over 50 brands are available to test!23rd Dec 2017 - 5th Jan 2018 - Morzine - The Enchanted Village of MorzineTwo weeks of magical performances in Morzine.10th Feb - 9th March 2018 - Avoriaz - Snow Carnival4 weeks dedicated to children with many free animations: sledge races, carnival parades, lanterns etc. 13th Feb - 6th March 2018 - Morzine - Morzine Loves CarnivalEnjoy a carnival parade through Morzine every Tuesday night!27th Feb 2018 - Morzine - Ladies Night TourDownhill ski race - a chance to watch some of the best female skiers around…12th - 16th March 2018 - Morzine - Morzine Loves Women Festival 5 days of female-directed activity - details to follow!18th - 24th March 2018 - Morzine - Rock the Pistes Festival - line up to follow!Major artists performing in free concerts on the ski slopes, with some 30 other après-ski gigs in the heart of Morzine! This winter, Morzine plays host to the 8th Rock the Pistes festival. This music event, which is unique in Europe, offers five days of gigs for all, in exciting temporary venues on the slopes in the Portes du Soleil. 18th - 24th March 2018 - Avoriaz - SnowboxxMore than 5000 people come to Avoriaz for this unique festival for a full week of electro shows. A crazy concert will take place every night in the "box" in the centre of the resort. Pool partys, crazy après-ski etc! 4th - 7th April 2018 - Morzine - The Kids KingdomAn exceptional week with loads of activities taking place for kids of all ages.8th April - Morzine - The Champions Ski RaceA grand race to end the season high on Nyon plateau, where children can mingle with champion skiers from Portes du Soleil resorts, who’ve been invited to come and ski, sign autographs, have their photo taken and encourage young talent.7th-21st April - Avoriaz - Pipe GroundThe Avoriaz superpipe is one of the last of its kind in France: 120m long and 6m high. Each year the best pro-riders use it to train or for competitions. At the of the season, local riders re-shape the pipe to create a new snowpark with an original design.